Matt Birk skipped White House visit because of his pro-life stanceRetired Ravens center took issue with President Obama's support of Planned ParenthoodBy Aaron Wilson The Baltimore Sun

3:20 p.m. EDT, June 6, 2013

Retired six-time Pro Bowl center Matt Birk skipped the Ravens' visit to the White House for political reasons.

Specifically, Birk took issue with President Barack Obama's support of Planned Parenthood.

Birk is a staunch Catholic father of six children who's against abortion and has taken a strong pro-life stance. Birk has also spoken out in the past in favor of traditional marriage prior to same-sex marriage becoming legal last year in Maryland.

"I wasn't there," Birk told KFAN in Minnesota. "I would say that I have great respect for the office of the Presidency, but about five or six weeks ago, our President made a comment in a speech and he said, 'God bless Planned Parenthood.'

"Planned Parenthood performs about 330,000 abortions a year. I am Catholic, I am active in the Pro-Life movement and I just felt like I couldn't deal with that. I couldn't endorse that in any way. I'm very confused by [Obama's] statement. For God to bless a place where they're ending 330,000 lives a year? I just chose not to attend."

At the close of his speech at a Planned Parenthood national conference in April, Obama said: "Thank you Planned Parenthood. God bless you, God bless America.”

I dont agree with his views on PP, but I do admire that he is turning down a free visit and a pump and chump with the most Transparent POTUS of All Time

The problem I have is I will wager he went out of his way to tell some media person about this. He is retiring, and he wants to go out with a flourish. He could have declined the offer without stating 'why'. He could have even booked something else, or made up a story why he wouldn't go. I dont see that. I see a very 'smart' guy ( Harvard Econ) who is looking down the road, and is positioning himself.

Now compare that to Tebow. I do not believe had Tebow been on a SB team, and was invited to the W.H., and Pres Obama said 'God Bless Planned Parenthood', he would have pulled this stunt. I think he would have just gone, and kept his mouth shut, and told his flock that the POTUS was 'misguided' and that prayer was in order. Seriously. He turned down that Evangelical speaking gig when it got too hot. This would be SuperNova hot on ESPN, that Tebow turned down Pres Obama. I do not think Tebow is as 'smart' as Birk, technically. But, I think he would have handled this differently. I could be wrong, tho.

I don't know that I'd call Obama, "transparent." There's a lot of back door stuff going on under his leadership. Though I respect the heck out of his ability to come off as a normal, and very likable guy, I don't think that there's much of any, "transparency," with him. I think the wool has been placed firmly over our eyes.

Would be nice if we could just keep politics out of football. Tebow brought religion into football, and look how that worked out for him. I guess it's a good thing that Birk is retiring.

Tebow brought religion into football, and look how that worked out for him. I guess it's a good thing that Birk is retiring.

What? Tebow did this? You are kidding, right? You do know 'religion' has been 'brought' into the the NFL waaaaay before Tebow was an unholy thought in his Daddy's mind? He is just the flavor of the month. In Birks case, it's Raspberry. In Tebow's case, it's Vanilla.

Kurt Warner didn't bring in the 'Holy'? His wife is gonna be pissed ( isnt she hosting a show on MSNBC now? ).

Ray Lewis is the Patron Saint of the 'redeemed one', St Lawyeruppas

Reggie White gets a pass...well because.....

Tebow aint a Holy Pimple on the hypocritical A$$ of these clowns, and that's all I can recall off the top of my head.

But watch how these two NFL players get 'dealt with'. One, who 'may' be a competent backup will be building huts in Indonesia and giving speeches to Florida churches, and the other one will slide into a regional commentary radio gig and be active in the 'Rotary Club/Nutbag/Elks' community, probably open a car or insurance business, and generally be a non-game changer. Perhaps he gets a juicy gig on a 'sports' station with ties to Cumulus, Clear Channel, or Disney

There have always been snippets of religion in football, but Tebow was the devout Christian equivalent to the great white hype. Teams won't touch him at this point, not because he can't play football, but because he's a religious icon. It's a distraction.

There have always been snippets of religion in football, but Tebow was the devout Christian equivalent to the great white hype. Teams won't touch him at this point, not because he can't play football, but because he's a religious icon. It's a distraction.

No one cares what your religious affiliation is as long as you can play. The NFL is a bottom line business. Matt Birk didn't start having these opinions 6 months ago. He's probably always had them, but no one cared because he was one of the best offensive linemen in the league.

You think the Patriots like Rob Gronkowski's behavior? Hell no. But because he's the best TE in the league, they deal with it. The minute he stops being that guy, they will dump him in a heartbeat.

There's too much $$$ involved in the game to let this "off field issues" get in the way. If a guy can play (i.e. he can help you win, and thus help his team make more $$$), then he'll play. If he can't, then he won't be in the league.

Kurt and Brenda weren't football Jesus, Fun Gus. I acknowledge that there have been plenty of openly religious people in football. (duh) But Tebow is an icon because of religion. No other player, that I can think of, has had the kind of fan representation that Tebow has had, not because of his ability to play football, but because of who he is as a person. The same was not true of Kurt Warner. Kurt earned his stripes on the field. His story was all about being a grocery bagger and going on to win a superbowl a couple of years later. Religion did not define him as a player. It does define Tebow. Kurt even came out and said that Tebow needs to tone the religious stuff down.

Tebow is an "Icon" because he won 2 National Titles and a Heisman Trophy, at Florida. His religion has very little to do with it. He had arguably the best college football career a player has had in over 2 decades. He was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. And that Heisman makes you a huge national star, and unlike any other player before him, we got to see Tebow play another 2 years after first really becoming a star.

The religious aspect is just the cherry on top of it. That and the inexplicable success he was able to achieve in 2011 despite being one of the worst passers to ever start an NFL game. That's what separates him from say someone like Matt Leinart, who people probably forget was also an "icon" when he came out of USC.

People keep wrongly trying to boil this thing down to religion, and it really isn't about that. Tebow is out of the league because he's a terrible passer that shows a limited mental grasp of the game. One could describe JaMarcus Russell the same way. The major difference is that unlike Russell, Tebow has had success in the NFL. And thus why it's a no-brainer why Russell can't find a gig in the pros, it's not so clear-cut with Tebow.

There are several other QBs that have comparable religious beliefs as Tebow, namely Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins. But unlike Tebow, they can actually go through progressions and can hit a wide open receiver 12 yards downfield. And unlike Tebow, neither had the collegiate success that made national headlines (although both were highly successful college QBs) for 3+ years. Unless you were a fan of college football, you wouldn't have heard of either Wilson or Cousins until their final years in college.

A significant portion of this country could tell me who "Johnny Football" is, including a significant portion that don't even watch/care about college football. Because that's what happens when you play in the SEC and win a Heisman. And if he happens to win a national title (or 2) before he's done at Texas A&M, his profile is going to blow Tebow's out the water, and religion isn't going to have anything to do with it. And if/when he gets to the NFL 1-3 years from now, and NFL teams are knocking his size, arm strength, and pocket passing ability which causes him to "fall" in the draft relative to the fact that for the 2-3 years of his college career, he was by far the most famous college football player in the country, it's going to create even more national headlines.

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